A WELFARE scheme set up to provide emergency support to people in poverty was allocated £1.5 million more than it needed, new figures reveal.
Around £1 in every £20 controlled by the Scottish Welfare Fund, which offers short help with living expenses in times of crisis and can help those under financial pressure to pay for expensive one-off items such as cookers or a washing machines, went unspent in 2015-16.
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It follows Naomi Eisenstadt, Nicola Sturgeon's poverty advisor, calling on the Scottish Government to do more to ensure that people claim the benefits they are entitled to. Applications to the fund also dropped by around 4,500.
The Scottish Welfare Fund, set up after the UK Government scrapped previous benefits and allocated around £24m to the Scottish Government instead, is one of the few schemes of its kind to be run by the SNP administration. It has had an annual budget of £33m since it was established in 2013, with the Scottish Government topping up the UK cash. New powers over welfare are being devolved to Holyrood under the Scotland Act.
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Scottish Labour's social security spokesman, Mark Griffin, said: "Labour supported the establishment of the Scottish Welfare Fund but the SNP Government must ensure that vulnerable families are getting the support and advice they need.
"Figures released today show that the number of awards and amount spent from the Scottish Welfare Fund last year are down. At a time when people across Scotland are struggling with welfare reforms and a cost of living crisis, it is worrying that the Scottish Welfare Fund is spending less to help those that need support."
Cash not spent this year can be carried forward to next year by councils, which administer the scheme, the Scottish Government confirmed. Around one-third of grants were given to households with children, while around 54 per cent of those grants were given to single person households with no children.
Social Security Secretary Angela Constance said: "No-one in Scotland should be living in poverty, and it is crucial that we are able to give support to those most in need, when they need it.
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"It is important this money gets to those who need it most, and that is why, from April this year, we have made changes to the way funding is allocated to local authorities, to ensure it reaches those people who most need it."
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